Oh my beloved eggs, why have you forsaken me!? And almonds! What’s your story? I thought we had something special! All I have ever done is make you into delicious tasting morsels and you too are destroying my guts. Oh, you think they are annoying? Try adding to this list dairy in all forms (including goats), whey & casein, sugar cane, banana, cranberry, pineapple, scallops, amaranth, sesame seeds, buckwheat & mushroom as well as moderate sensitivity to spelt, wheat, kidney beans, string beans, Lima beans & clams.
A few weeks ago I had my food allergies tested by my naturopath to try & help get to the bottom of my crappy gut. We had already determined that my gut was leaking to some degree (most likely stress related) which was obviously impacting on my digestion & absorption of the food I was eating. I was eating this amazing nutrient dense diet but was still showing low Iron, B vitamin deficiency as well as a number of other things in my blood results. I was feeling exhausted despite sleeping a lot, my hormone levels are all over the place, I was getting constant breakouts, I was bloated all the time and could not work out why, I had achy joints, my eyes & throat were constantly itchy, I had bags under my eyes & just felt generally sluggish.
A food allergy is a problem caused when IgE antibodies in your immune system mistakenly think that a normally harmless food substance is actually dangerous. Your immune system tries to defend your body, these IgE antibodies trigger the release of histamine which provokes an inflammatory response to attack this substance. If you constantly consume food you are having an allergic response to, your body will be in a constant state of stress & inflammation. Your immune system will also be so busy attacking these food particles that you might also become immune suppressed & get sick often and long term, far, far worse consequences like auto immune disease may manifest!
I knew a few things didn’t agree with my stomach, like dairy, yet I still continued to consume it occasionally because “I didn’t know for sure” I was intolerant. Don’t you love how we make excuses to eat things we know are not the best choices for our body. The below was a self experiment I did with some natural yoghurt. Left picture is before, right is about 1/2 hr after eating some …. Yet I still continued to justify why I could continue to have “just a little bit” because I wasn’t 100% sure I was intolerant. Seriously, WTF is wrong with me!?
Well, now I know. I have no excuses, I need not continue to do self-experiments with these food. So what will I do with this new found knowledge? Well, I have 2 choices: I could ignore it & keep eating these things, continue to cause inflammation & stress on my body, perpetuate my leaky gut & possibly end up with an autoimmune disease. Or, I can remove these things from my life for a while, feel better, allow my gut to heal & perhaps be able to reintroduce some of these things back one day. It’s kind of a no-brainier. I am sick of feeling crappy, I want to feel better. Adios allergens.
It seems to be a much bigger problem for people around me than what it is for me at this point. “What will you eat?”, “that is the WORST”, blah blah. Let me answer for you…. What will I eat? Loads of great, healthy & nourishing foods. Fruit, vegetables, meat, other nuts & seeds, coconut products, about a bazillion great foods that will make me feel 1000% better than dairy. It’s not the worst, it’s the BEST. I can start to heal my body & I can start to get my body back to functioning the way it was designed to. You know what would be the WORST? Eating nutrient-void, refined & processed foods every day & being so used to feeling crap that I didn’t know how it felt to feel good. That would be THE WORST.
So 3 weeks on and I have removed all the foods that showed even a “mild” reaction. My eyes & throat have not been itchy at all. Not once. The dark circles under my eyes have lessened. I have not been bloated. My aching joints have lessened. I am sleeping better. I have lost a little bit of weight & no longer feel like a slug. Moving forward I hope that allowing my gut to heal will improve my digestion & food absorption & help to remedy the hormone imbalances that are occurring. We’ve only recently begun to understand the extent of the gut flora’s role in human health and disease. We now know unhealthy gut contributes to a wide range of diseases including diabetes, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, autism spectrum disorder, depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, hormone imbalances, IBS and other joint disorders. You can read more about that HERE. Stay tuned for a post on gut healing & how I am doing it.
Hi, thanks for the great post. I was just wondering how your naturopath actually tested you for food allergies? I have suffered with excessive bloating for a long time now. I also have crohn’s disease. I have been working closely with a Chinese herbalist for about 7 months now, and he is a genius and has helped me a lot, but I still wonder about certain food intolerances, even though I stick to a pretty restricted diet, as trial and error has helped me determine what seems to work for me. I am interested to know how they tested you for the intolerances? Thanks so much!
Hi Kristy, it was a blood test that was sent away for testing. From the research & readings I have come across lately Crohn’s can caused by severe gluten intolerance. Have you removed grains from your diet? Here is an interesting read – http://robbwolf.com/2012/11/12/crohns-relief-week-paleo/
Also check out Chris Kresser & Balanced Bites for more great info.
Thanks so much. I will have a read of that information. I have been gluten free for years now (based on what I have read about crohn’s and gluten), and have pretty much cut out grains from a few months back. I do sometimes eat things that contain a little rice flour, but it is rare..
That is so interesting! How did you find the doctor and how did they test these things?
Meghan, my naturopath sent away for my food allergy test & it was a blood test.
Great post! As a celiac, I empathize. As a friend said to me, it’s just food not cancer. There are a million great things to eat.
Best regards, Lisa Hostettler
Sent from my iPhone
We totally have similar results! I have the same issue with dairy and isn’t it crazy as to how drastic it is? I feel like I need to redo my tests. I feel like wheat is okay now and my corn allergy has become even worse!
So bizarre! How long have you removed it from your diet? I am going to remove my allergens for 6 mths- heal my gut then look to reintroduce a few things. I am not interested in reintroducing any grains or much dairy but I would like eggs & bananas back!!
Totally understand you! Well I haven’t had my allergens for almost 3 years with many traces here and there, but I had wheat bread by mistake once and my stomach was okay. But with dairy… I was double bloated then you, people thought I was 4-5 months pregnant.. not fun! So now I am being more strict as of almost 2 weeks and it feels good!
Good on you!
good luck! i know its tough 🙁
Love this post! As I am more “in touch” with my health and fitness there is one thing I can’t get past and that is my constant battle with the bloat! I have a number of other gut issues I won’t bore you with, but this gave me the kick up the butt to get a test done. However I will have to hold off until I finish uni in a few weeks and can afford to do it then! Until then – I accept the bloat! Thanks for keeping us updated – hopefully the post in 6 months time will be a great one!!
Thank you Emma & good luck!!!
Well done you! Food allergy results can seem so overwhelming at times, particularly when you have to cut out so many DELICIOUS things… but like you say, totally worth it when you find out how good you can feel. Here’s to healing! Bravo 🙂
Thank you!!
hi shan, i was wondering if you could let me know the name of your naturopath? i would be keen to consult with her.
Hi Jenny, her name is Sarah Henschel- you can find her at Function Well or Sun & Earth
hi shan,
thanks i have spoken to Sarah and booked in to see her.
appreciate you sharing your contact.
jen
I only just saw this in my emails and had a read. You know what it just occurred to me that I haven’t been thinking about food the right way and certainly haven’t paid attention to eating for inner health just physical image. I have pretty much the same symptoms as you. The constant mucus in my body (sorry for the details) the darkness under my eyes is ridiculous. And yep aching body. Magnesium has helped a bit with that and sleeping I can’t get enough.
Thanks for this writing and sharing. Thankyou heaps.
🙂
Samantha I am so glad I could help. Hope it helps you make some changes to heal.
Oh my god, my friend! You have a lot of allergies, food-related!! Goo dluck with it all, my friend!
Thanks Sophie. Operation heal my gut is underway then hopefully some of those things can come back
Thankyou for posting your before yoghurt and after yoghurt photos. I get the same way, although I don’t think it is after yoghurt – I have to try and figure out the cause. It is amazing (and awful) how much our tummy expands with what is simple bloat. I used to get painfully bloated but now that I’m more or less following the Type A blood type diet, that has gone, thank god. Now I just get a painless puffing and actually fatigue and itchy eyes so I’m thinking I should head off to a naturopath. Thanks for the push. 🙂
Good luck!!
Shannie Shannie!!!!! I have been thinking about an egg substitute for you! If you mix equal portions of chai seed to water and let it rest it will give you the protein bind that you require for your delish baking!!!!! Ummmm… probably preaching to the converted and just completely embarrassed myself.
Hahaha, Ezzy thank you, I did discover that a while ago 😉 Ground flax works the same too. Thank you though for thinking of me!!! Xx
Hi,
I was just wondering where you had your food allergy test done. Im in sydney and looking to get one done.
thanks,
belle
Hi Belle, I had my testing done by my naturopath in Brisbane but I have had some friends get theirs done by naturopaths in Sydney so you shouldn’t have any probs finding someone to do it for you. Good luck!